Mesambria (Aegean Sea)

Mesambria (Ancient Greek: Μεσαμβρία),[1] or Mesembria (Μεσημβρία),[2] was an ancient Greek[3] city located in ancient Thrace, on the coast of the Black Sea.

Archaeological site of Mesembria

According to Herodotus, it was a bastion that had been founded by Samothrace, was a neighbor of the city of Stryme and in the middle of the two ran the Lissus River. The army of Xerxes passed Mesambria during the expedition against Greece in 480 BCE.[4]

Its site is tentatively located near Shabla-Dere, 12 miles (19 km) west of Alexandroupolis;[1][5] but it has been suggested that Mesambria could be identified with Drys, or with Orthagoria, or with Zone.[3]

  1. ^ a b Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 51, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
  2. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
  3. ^ a b Mogens Herman Hansen & Thomas Heine Nielsen (2004). "Thrace from Nestos to Hebros". An inventory of archaic and classical poleis. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 880. ISBN 0-19-814099-1.
  4. ^ Herodotus. Histories. Vol. 7.108.
  5. ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.